Delphine Hanna (d. 1941)

(Oberlin Alumni Magazine, July 1957, p 23)

A pioneer in organized physical education, Dr. Delphine Hanna
became the first instructor in Physical
Education at Oberlin College in 1885. In her first year at Oberlin,
Hanna had the future male faculty in Physical Education as her
students. Hanna retained many positions at Oberlin -- she was the
director of the Women's Gymnasium (1887-1955) from 1887 to 1897 and
again from 1903 to 1920; the director of the Department of Physical
Training for Women (1887-1903) from 1887-1903; and the director of a
teacher's course in physical education for women from 1904 to 1920.
Hanna received her medical degree from the University of Michigan in
1890, a strong supplement to the scientific basis of her physical
programs. Hanna established the first four-year curriculum for a
Bachelor's degree in physical education for women -- the first woman
to receive such a degree graduated in 1902. In 1903, Hanna was made
Professor of Physical Education at Oberlin, the first professorship
in physical education in the United States.

Delphine Hanna died in 1941. At the news of
her death, the Oberlin Alumni
Magazine published an article in its
May issue tracing Hanna's pioneering efforts, and their continuing
effects.
"Delphine
Hanna: Pioneer" is an invaluable
historical resource, documenting not only Hanna's life and her
contemporary history, but also revealing a 1940's Oberlin perspective
on physical education.

The Women's Gynasium (of which Hanna was
director from 1887 to 1903, and again from 1903 to 1920) fell out of
existence in 1955, at which time the Department of Physical Education
for Women was created. The latter department would last officially
until 1970, although in 1969, the women and men's physical education
departments merged. In 1957, another article was written about Hanna
in the Oberlin Alumni
Magazine .
"Portrait
of a Pioneer" helped to usher in a
new era of physical education for women and simultaneously
contributed to a celebration of its past.